subpatches all doing the same thing?

Hi. I have a situation where I send some info into a subpatch that picks a random video clip and then it sends that file (actually a message that says "read ") into another patch that applies a random video effect to the clip. I’ve actually got several instances of this whole scenario, one for each screen. Like so:

This is all inside of a larger patch, and the subpatches are abstractions, saved as external files. When I run it however, all 3 screens have the same video on them — same files, with same effects. I’ve been up late & I’m getting pretty sleepy, but …. it’s not supposed to do this, is it? It doesn’t seem like I should need to resort to poly~ or some such craziness for this, right?

I’m a brand new user, so this is the first time I’ve ever tried this.

In case you want a more visual explanation of what I’m doing, here’s the relavant selection:

– Pasted Max Patch, click to expand. –

Copy all of the following text. Then, in Max, select New From Clipboard.

I know there’s some other buggy stuff in there, and you can feel free to give me feedback. I’m a long way from even having a finished architectural framework. But right now I’m just wondering why I can’t have three different vids playing.

Send and receive are global, so you need to make sure that the names are unique. If you prefix your destinations with #0, it will be unique per instance. Heres your video-effect-plexor.maxpat with the s & r prefixed w/ #0

– Pasted Max Patch, click to expand. –

Copy all of the following text. Then, in Max, select New From Clipboard.

Oh, I realize that not much happens if you don’t have viceo, so I should explain what video it’s expecting. First, there’s a rootpath that is set in the Config Variables section. Inside of that, it expects to see these folders, each associated with an ethernet event:

I was really excited when I figured out that I didn’t need wires going everywhere….. But it does stand to reason that there would be a catch. :-) Definitely a fun learning process getting into the Max Mind…..